What Happens in the Ghost Circle, Stays in the Ghost Circle
by SnowyBob
Summary: A twist on what happens when Fone Bone and Thorn go into a ghost circle in search of food. FoneXThorn


Author's Note: This takes place when Thorn and Fone Bone go into a ghost circle in search of food to sustain themselves. Mind you, this is my own version of the scene…

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Fone gulped as his hand gripped Thorn's tightly, slowly following her into the ghost circle. He was almost glad to have a piece of the Locust inside him and Thorn, for it kept them from vanishing from existence altogether.

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Outside the ghost circle, Smiley clutched his empty stomach in pain while Bartleby tried to comfort him. Phoney sat with his back to them, his face twisted with worry and fear. He never usually feared anything, but the thought of losing Fone was driving him nuts, hence his pounding heart. Gran'ma Ben looked over at him, and back to where Fone and her granddaughter had disappeared. Everyone hoped the two would soon return.

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"Fone Bone, do you see any food yet?" Thorn asked, looking around the area of the eerie ghost circle.

"Nothing, yet, and you can just call me Fone. 'Bone' is my last name," Fone replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. He had just realized that she had always addressed him with both his first and last name, which all of a sudden seemed silly to him.

"Okay, _Fone. _Hmm, I think I see some sort of house over there," she said, pointing in the direction of the small structure. "There just may be food in there."

Thorn began to run, causing Fone's feet to be lifted off the ground as he swung around in the air behind her. He didn't dare let go of her hand, it was the lifeline that kept them safe inside the ghost circle. He didn't want to think about what would happen if they ever let go. The building turned out to be a root cellar, and the two quickly ran inside. Time was of the essence, everyone needed food, especially Smiley.

"Apples!" Fone exclaimed. "Tons of them!"

"Wow," Thorn breathed. She was quite relieved to know that she and the rest of the group would be able to eat. Too bad having part of the Locust in her didn't ward off hunger, she thought as she shoved apples into Fone's knapsack. It was harder to fit anything in with his copy of Moby Dick in the way, but she decided not to make the bone part with his favorite book.

Knapsack brimming with rations, Fone and Thorn headed out of the root cellar, and headed to the edge of the ghost circle, when it happened. The voices. They bombarded Thorn's ears, haunted her, and confused her. She couldn't see anyone here besides the bone gripping her hand tightly. She saw the worried look on his face, his big black eyes staring into hers.

"Do you hear the voices?" Thorn asked, biting her lip.

"Uhmm, no, I don't. Why, do you hear something?" Fone said, his floating eyebrows floating even higher off of his head.

She listened again. The voices were asking for help, and she had no idea of how to do so. She just stared straight ahead as the voices continued, motionless. This frightened Fone, and he tried to hug her to snap her out of it, but to no avail since he was short and basically ended up hugging her legs. It was times like this he really wished he had Smiley's height.

_Seek the Crown of Horns. Seek the Crown of Horns. _The same sentence was repeated to Thorn over and over again. No matter how many times it was said, she had completely no idea of what the Crown of Horns was.

"Thorn! Thorn! THORN!" Fone yelled, still trying to break Thorn from her trance. She ended up falling forward, and he tried to catch her. She ended up on top of him, her face near his, still blank of any expression. They were lucky that their hands were still interlocked after her tumble. An idea of how to wake her up popped into his head, but he was scared of what the outcome would be. It could completely ruin his friendship with Thorn, or make it ten times better. He took a deep breath, held her face in his hands, his eyes tearing up again, and started to lean forward…

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"What is taking so long?!" Phoney yelled, surprising the rest of the group with his sudden loud exclamation. He had hit the breaking point, and he flopped face first into the ashes, sobbing loudly. Smiley weakly patted his back before passing out from the lack of food.

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There was some difficulty, for Fone's rather large nose was an obstacle, but he managed to gently connect his mouth with Thorn's, his face flushing bright pink. The sensation felt wonderful, but he remembered why he was doing this. He was trying to wake up Thorn. And he just had to wake her, even if she hated him afterwards. Since she wasn't responding, he pressed his mouth more firmly into hers, his eyes shut tight and his body shaking.

In Thorn's mind, the voices continued to speak of the Crown of Horns. She began to grow tired of hearing this when she saw her mother standing before her. "_Seek the Crown of Horns_," she said, just as the voices of the farmer's family had. This sight startled her back into reality, and into an even more confusing situation. Her view was obstructed by something white, and she felt a pressure on her mouth. She soon gathered that Fone was the whiteness before her eyes and something else. He was _kissing_ her. What the. She rather liked the feeling, but she pulled away so Fone's face was in clear view, and boy was it flushed.

Fone turned away, not losing his grip on Thorn's hand, and mumbled something inaudible.

"Can you repeat that?" Thorn asked, her own face tinted pink.

"I'm sorry, Thorn. It was th' only thing I could think of to wake you up, and I may have gone and ruined our friendship," the bone said, sighing heavily.

"Oh, Fone," she breathed, stifling a giggle. "There's no need to apologize, really. It's quite nice to know that you tried to help me, even though your method was kind of strange. I want to thank you, nonetheless," Thorn whispered, bending down and kissing him lightly on the mouth.

"I guess we better get this food out of here and to my cousins and Gran'ma," Fone said, chuckling slightly. Before he could begin to walk, Thorn grabbed hold of his hand, unknowing that she was removing the piece of the Locust that lurked within him and putting it in herself. She bent to her knees, a weird expression on her face.

"Thorn? You okay?" Fone asked, sweating slightly.

"Oh, yeah," she replied, "I'm _good_."

He nodded and the two finally walked out of the ghost circle, able to free their hands. Phoney leapt up and hugged Fone, which was quite startling. Fone put his full knapsack on the ground, and got an apple out for Smiley. With great difficulty, Smiley lifted the apple to his mouth and took a bite, and proceeded to devour it. Gran'ma Ben hugged Thorn, glad to see her granddaughter had made it back.

"Thank you for keeping her safe," she whispered to Fone. He nodded, taking small bites out of his apple.

When everyone was ready to continue the trip to Atheia, Thorn stopped Fone before he could walk away.

"I suggest that we wait until a better time if we ever want to tell everyone what happened in the ghost circle. Is that alright with you, Fone?"

"Yeah, what happened in th' ghost circle, stays in th' ghost circle. For _now_."

END ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


End file.
